Maggie’s First Dance~ block 3, and a give-away

Where, oh where has half the summer gone? I can’t believe it is August already…but it does mean it is time for block number 3 in Maggie’s First Dance, the FREE sew-along by Jacquelynne Steves! ( If you would like to join in, it is never too late…just go here and sign up! )

I have to admit that August kind of snuck up on me and last week I suddenly realized that I had NOT made my third block yet…YIKES!! So I got right down to work and completed that block in a hurry so I would have something to share with you today! ( Luckily I had already appliqued all my flowers so I didn’t also have to do that still).

Some pictures of the applique in progress:

I used little dabs of glue to keep my pieces of wool in place…little pins just always seem to grab my thread so this is much easier. And I always like to put a thin piece of batting behind my blocks….makes the stitching very smooth and thread won’t show through the background fabric when I “travel” from one piece to another.

Because I opted to make my version with wool applique I altered this one a bit. There were so many layers of fabric that I was afraid the block would get to be too fat, so I reduced the pieces and came up with this version:

When it came to choosing the colors for my block surround I had a bit of a dilemma. I love red and wanted to use red, but I hadn’t used red in my applique and I wasn’t sure if it would look strange to use red in the surrounding block. So I played around with the fabric pieces a bit and then decided that the block looked a bit blah without red, so ….red back in. ( It sure would be SIMPLER to just use all the suggested colors and fabrics when making a quilt, but then again I am not afraid of a challenge. Ha!) Anyway…..here is what my block ended up looking like:

Love it! Glad I went with the red after all 🙂 I also want to mention that I have this great little ruler that makes squaring up the little half square triangles so easy! It is called Bloc-Loc and you can read more about them here. The ruler basically locks in place on your diagonal seam and allows you to trim without it shifting. My ruler is only 6 1/2 inches, so I can trim any half-square triangle up to that size but I believe they have even bigger ones.

So here are my completed blocks 1, 2, and 3. Only one more block and then we are making the setting blocks! Before you know it, this quilt will be completed 🙂

* This give-away has closed*

This month we again have a great give-away! This prize is sponsored by Eva Paige Quilt designs and it looks adorable! You have a chance to win this Christmas Table Runner pattern AND a fabric kit, and the contest is open to EVERYONE!! All you have to do to enter is to leave me a comment at the bottom of this page and tell me what country you reside in. I just love to see readers from all over and would love to know where you are from!

So to summarize:

leave me a comment in this post and tell me what country you live in.

enter by August 7th, 2016 at midnight EST.

the winning entry will be randomly chosen by me on or about August 9th and will be announced right here on my blog, but I will also send you an email.

you MUST include your contact information ( email address), because if I can’t get in touch with you I will have to choose someone else!

this give-away is OPEN to EVERYONE

For more chances to win, make sure to visit all the other participating bloggers as well~ the list is at the bottom of this post.

I also wanted to mention that Beth at Eva Paige Quilt Design is running a Teal Mini Swap to benefit Ovarian Cancer research, so if you’d like to particpate in that I am sure she’d appreciate it! https://www.facebook.com/groups/twoforteal2014/

I am sad to say that I really haven’t gotten much other quilting done these past few weeks….I was hoping to have this quilt all bound and ready to show off, but that didn’t happen…it is just waiting patiently for me to have some time to spend on it….Summer around here is all about relaxing, enjoying the pool, and having company, so that is what we have been doing!

My sister and I did make these adorable dollies ( getting a headstart on Christmas presents!)

Aren’t they cute?! The pattern was designed by Cindy from Homespun from The Heart and we changed them a bit to suit our tastes. Mine still needs a little teeny quilt to hold, but I have time to do that at a later date. I am hopeful to get a bit of quilting time in this coming week, even if it is just a little stitching at night! I miss my creative time, but family just simply comes first. 🙂

I hope you are all getting time to be creative…please share what you are currently working on~ I would love to know!

Hi there, my name is Monique. I am glad you have found your way here! On my blog I share quilt projects, but also many other creative hobbies such as baking, card making, and home decorating...whatever inspires me! Family and home are the most important things to me, so I try and balance that with my need to create . Ready to have some fun? Let's go!